


Game Over. Retry?

by cliniclyInsane189



Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence, Nonbinary Character, Temporary Character Death, Time Shenanigans, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26779438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cliniclyInsane189/pseuds/cliniclyInsane189
Summary: An unfortunate group are gathered to play a game. One has a little more say in the outcome than they'd like.-Or, the player codenamed 'Epsilon' takes on one of the last of the original Nonary Games and the burden of their fellow participants' lives - this takes its toll.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947934
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Game Over. Retry?

**Author's Note:**

> Back in this universe for Whumptober 2020 Day 2: In the hands of the enemy - **“Pick Who Dies”** | Collars | Kidnapped.
> 
> Join us in this stream of consciousness-esque, CYOA styled fic where _you_ don't get to choose the path, while our main character slowly but surely loses it thanks to canon-typical timeline/morphogenic field bullshit. Enjoy!

The worst thing was that Epsilon somehow always ended up with the deciding vote on which door to go through. This was technically a good thing - they knew more about this situation than the rest and thus they were generally calmer, could make the decision based on reasoning rather than petty grudges and suspicion.

But.

But what the others had unknowingly done was this: by giving Epsilon the final say on the doors, they’d collectively handed up their lives on a platter.

Because here, picking a door meant picking who died. And not all of the other players understood the stakes, but _none_ of them looked at a door and knew exactly whose lives were being thrown away the _second_ they walked through.

For door four, the only constant casualty was Nanami. The other lives were still in flux, still waiting for another choice to be made. Through this door, no-one had a 100% chance of survival.

And five? For five, there were two constants: Roku would always die and Tetra would always live. Once again, the others varied. And as for themself, this door brought no sparks of hope - no good endings in sight.

So which was the better choice? Which people did they choose to save, which to damn? Did it matter? If it did, why did it matter? What did it change?

What did it change?

* * *

Choose: four or five?

* * *

You chose door four!

Continue to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

So what now?

Nanami was dead, and there was another set of doors, another decision that would kill at least one of the people stood in this room - one of whom was a killer, who would pick off the rest of them one-by-one-by-one-by-.

Stop.

Think.

What were their options?

Through door three… No, that one was an absolute last resort. Epsilon didn’t know why, but every part of themself was screaming at them not to go through that door. It couldn’t end well, but they knew that, in some reality, they had made that choice - otherwise they wouldn’t be so firmly against it now. Was this version of them the one who went through that door? Maybe. Maybe not.

They sucked in a sharp breath through their nose.

Now, now, Epsilon, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?

Let’s review the other options first.

Door seven. Constants: Hana and Octavius die, Tetra and Roku don’t. The others, themself included, are once again shifting variables.

Door eight. The only constant was Tetra’s death. For everyone else, there was a non-zero (but occasionally very small) chance of survival.

And of course, Epsilon couldn’t possibly know the exact numbers in every case - where they died, so did their knowledge. The options where they died were riddled with unknowns, especially when they went early. Those were best avoided unless absolutely necessary.

What a decision to have to make.

3, 7, 8.

3,

7,

8.

Think of the certainties.

Epsilon, Hana, Tetra.

5, 1, 4.

3, 7, 8.

* * *

Return to previous choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

You chose door five!

Continue to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

This was a mistake.

They’d known it was a mistake from the moment they’d come across the safe that they _hadhadn’t_ been able to open.

What?

No, focus.

The safe didn’t matter right now - all that mattered was that they remembered what they’d learned in another time.

Wait, what they’d learned?

No.

Epsilon shook themself, a fierce migraine building behind their eyes.

Focus. 

They’d know when they knew - just like they knew that if they, Epsilon made it off the boat, they would not continue for much longer thereafter. Just like they knew that Octavius couldn’t be permitted to leave.

Door three. The constants: Duri and Octavius would die, Tetra would live. The others, as always, had their lives bound to another choice. There was something pulling them to this door, a gentle warning tug.

Seven. They would lose Sivan, Nanami and Octavius every time through this door. They would also always save Hana and Tetra. This one was probably the best-case scenario, looking at the big picture. And there was something in their gut pulling them this way - their insatiable curiosity telling them there was something here _they just had to know_.

What about eight? Always Trey, Octavius and Duri. Tetra, as with the other options, always survived - this time along with Hana _and_ Sivan. So maybe this one was the best - it had the most guaranteed survivors. But they wouldn’t get anything useful from it...

What a choice…

How were they supposed to choose between necessity (three and seven) and mercy (eight)?

How were they supposed to make a choice like that?

So.

3, 7, or 8.

Duri and Octavius; Sivan, Nanami and Octavius; Trey, Duri and Octavius.

_Who do you choose to die?_

* * *

Shift to door four route?

**Y** /N?

* * *

**Y**

You chose door three!

Continue to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**ERROR - INVALID INPUT**

Well.

That explains why that was a bad idea.

Who knew a scalpel to the jugular hurt so much?

**END.**

* * *

Return to previous choice?

**Y** /N?

* * *

**Y**

You chose door seven!

Continue to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

Nanami and Hana were both dead.

This one was going to be interesting.

Round three of ‘pick who dies’ - the final!

Have fun! 

Epsilon bit down hard on their lip to prevent their slightly hysterical grin from forming. It would not do for them to lose it so publicly at this point.

Their head hurt.

At least every choice had a definite outcome.

Choose door one, and they’d kill Duri, Trey, Octavius and Sivan.

Choose door two, and, as far as Epsilon could tell, they would be the only one to die. Though… With how these things tended to go, there would probably be more afterwards.

With six - the outcome was the same as door one, but Sivan wouldn’t die. That was probably the best option.

Right?

1, 2, 6.

Who has to die this time?

* * *

Return to previous choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

You chose door eight!

Continue to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

The next choice felt like an important one.

Epsilon frowned.

It was probably best not to waste any time here.

So, the first option: door one. That one felt big. Even though this was supposed to be the last set of doors to choose between, the future still felt uncertain. Wobbly. This was probably the way to go. There was a little certainty, though. Roku was sure to die, Hana and Trey to survive.

Then there was door two. That one was not promising. In that one, everyone but Octavius died, which did not do his character any favours.

Finally, door six. That killed Duri, Octavius and themself. 

Fun.

So. Were they going to make the obvious right choice, or were they going to let their curiosity get the better of them? Were they going to let themself become the version of themself that died so _this_ them could know where to go?

1, 2, 6.

1, 2, 6?

* * *

You chose door one!

Proceed to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

This is definitely it, but...

Something’s missing here.

Come back later?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

Shift to door five route?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

You chose door three!

Continue to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

Epsilon was running out of patience. People kept dying, dying _because of choices they had made_ and they couldn’t afford to fall apart. 

Not yet.

Not on this god-forsaken boat.

If they chose door one: they, Nanami, Octavius and Sivan would die.

Door two: Hana, Trey, Nanami and Octavius die.

Door six. As far as they could tell, they and Octavius would be the only ones to die.

So.

Which do they choose?

1, 2, 6?

* * *

Return to previous choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

You chose door seven!

Continue to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

Choices, choices, choices, none of them good.

Does it really matter at this point?

You’ve already made unforgivable choices far too many times at this point, haven’t you Epsilon?

The only choice that gains you anything, **in the long run,** is door six.

But still.

Maybe not looking would be better?

Wouldn’t it?

Epsilon took a deep breath. They weren’t sure where those thoughts had come from, but they did not appreciate them.

Door one kills Duri, Trey, Nanami and Octavius.

Door two: themself, Nanami and Octavius.

Door six, the same as door one.

1, 2, or 6?

* * *

Return to previous choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

You chose door eight!

Continue to next choice?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

Why are we even bothering at this point?

-No SHUT UP! 

_-WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?_

I think you know.

**_-GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_ **

…

...

Shift back to door four route?

**Y** /N

* * *

**Y**

So. Here we are at last. All those choices, all those deaths, and it all brought us here. The so-called path to victory.

I made my opening move a long time ago.

Time for you to make yours, Epsilon.

Well, this was certainly something. A creepy old chapel, a (hopefully empty) coffin at the front of the room and two doors bearing a nine.

Fuck.

Going through the big door seemed like a terrible idea. Besides, the smaller door seemed like it had something interesting behind it.

So.

Large 9? Or small 9?

Which should they pick?

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is the same OC as in my previous fic. This is actually set concurrent to the introductory fic in this series, which is still a WIP.  
> Also it may be apparent, but this verse features a hell of a lot of aliases.  
> You can find me on tumblr at h2-oh-fic.


End file.
